(CNSNews.com) – Republicans, insisting that nothing good can come of a lame-duck session of Congress, are urging Congress not to resume business as usual after the midterm election.

Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) introduced a resolution, “Pledging not to assemble on or between the dates of November 2, 2010 and January 3, 2011, except in the case of an unforeseen, sudden emergency requiring immediate action from Congress.”

If Democrats lose control or one or both houses of Congress – as many political analysts are predicting -- the losing members could vote on unpopular legislation without worrying about being accountable to voters.

Republicans believe Democrats will use the lame duck session in an attempt to pass unpopular legislation such as cap and trade, card check, immigration reform and tax hikes.

Indeed, Democratic leaders in Congress appear to be headed down that path.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is expected to schedule a lame duck session on Nov. 15, according to The Hill newspaper. The Hill also reported that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said that the decision on how and whether to extend the Bush tax cuts might be delayed until a lame duck session.

“The question is, would the folks who have been defeated feel liberated from being responsible to their constituents?” Price, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, told CNSNews.com. “The leadership in the Senate and Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi have clearly been aggressive in encouraging and demanding that their members do things that don’t necessarily represent their constituencies.”

Price also has launched an online petition asking House Speaker Pelosi not to call a lame duck session, even though he admits it’s a losing battle:

“We’ll have a lame duck session because they haven’t been responsible and completed the work that most Congresses do by this point,” Price said. “We haven’t had a single appropriations bill go through the entire process. They continue to not have a budget. They have not dealt with the issue of tax increases.”

“We’ll have to have a lame duck session,” Price repeated. “The question is, whether or not it will deal with huge issues that are very controversial with the American people or whether or not they are going to do those things before the election so the American people can make a decision based upon those votes.”

VIDEO: http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/checker.aspx?v=hdnznzqGaG

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/70735

PoliCon

08-09-2010, 06:01 PM

Great little video. I love how he spells out all the 'claims' of the democrats and weighs them against the REALITIES of what they have done. :)

marv

08-09-2010, 08:47 PM

The only way to "kill" a lame duck session is to tie it up in so many procedural matters that nothing can get done.